As many as 11 sanitiser brands have been booked by the Haryana government following failure of their samples collected across various districts in the state.

Along with the first information reports (FIRs),  a notice has been issued to cancel or suspend the license of the respective brands, Haryana health minister Anil Vij said on Thursday.

He said about 248 samples were collected by the Food and Drug Administration of Haryana, out of which reports of 123 samples have been received. Out of the received reports, 109 samples have been passed, while 14 samples have been failed.

Among these, nine brands were found substandard, while five brands were found with excessive quantity of methanol present in them, which acts as a toxin. Death may occur by consuming methanol.

The minister said that instructions have been given to recover the entire stock of failed brand sanitizer back from the market so that people do not suffer any kind of loss.

The health minister said that samples of ‘Best Time Unit’ and ‘Mother Health’ brands in Kaithal district have failed. Similarly, nine sanitiser samples of ‘Global Bottlers’ in Karnal district have been failed due to the excessive amount of methanol present in them which is harmful for the body.

Apart from these, two brands in Hisar district have also not been found of good quality. A case has been registered against them and a notice has been issued for taking appropriate action.

Vij said that at the initial stage of Corona outbreak, a complaint of selling fake sanitisers in the market was received, due to which the Food and Drug Administration was instructed to conduct raids in the districts of Haryana. Following this, raids were conducted in various districts from 6 March to 8 March 2020 by the administration and about 158 samples were collected. Similarly 90 samples were collected from different parts of the state on 22 May, 2020. Appropriate action will be taken after receiving the report, he added.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today urged the patients who have recovered from COVID-19 infection to come forward and motivate people suffering from this infection to put up a tough fight against this Pandemic.

In fact all such survivors should encourage people to not fear from this Pandemic, rather ensure proper precautions are taken for it.  The Chief Minister also appealed to the people who have recovered from COVID-19 infection to donate their plasma.